My One Way Ticket to Wingdom
by LiliaSparks
Summary: When Ella decides she wants her own set of wings and runs away from the Flock to get them, she accidentally messes up everything. Now, with Dr. Martinez and Ella kidnapped again - this time by terrorists threatening to bomb the world - Iggy and the rest of the Flock must save the both of them AND try to stop a full-out nuclear war that Ella caused. Can they do it in time?
1. At least I got a medium sized dog crate

**A/N: Okay, so I decided to start another story type thingy because I'm about to end my old one, but I didn't exactly know what it would be about, so I decided to write an Eggy fanfic. I love Eggy, and I mean, LOVE Eggy. So here it is. **

_Ella's POV_

This has got to be number one on the "Most Stupid Things I've Ever Done" list. Right up there with driving my grandfather's golf cart straight into the ocean – don't ask. It was stupid. I realize.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to go get a set of wings put on me? Oh, right. That would be my idea.

I had it all planned out in my head, too. I would pretend to go to school like I normally did every day, as to not cause suspicion. Then I would catch a bus to the School in California, and then I would just waltz in and tell them that I would be shutting them down because I was Max's little sister.

And that right there was my one way ticket to Wingdom.

What I didn't plan for was what would happen after that. In my haze, I apparently forgot the crucial detail where Max said that she and the Flock had been trapped at the School 6+ years. Whoops.

Well, at least they gave me a medium sized dog crate.

Oh look! It's Thing One and Thing Two here to take me to have some more "tests" done. I've had to take different tests for two weeks now. I've become familiar with the sight of needles near my body.

This new test is another needle test. They tell me some garbage about how it's supposed to see how high my heart rate will go before it gives out. But, they assure me, they will cut it off when they see signs of strain, so I will not be hurt. The doctors put me to sleep, and a terrible dream seeps into my mind.

The Flock is there, but they're mad at me. They say it was a stupid idea for me to go and get wings grafted onto my body. Max and Fang and Nudge are yelling at me, Gazzy keeps changing into the voice of my mother, and Angel is sending terrible thoughts into my mind. But the worst is Iggy. Iggy… He's… I haven't really figured out my feelings for Iggy, yet. But he has this terribly disappointed and angry look on his face. His blind eyes seem as if they're staring into my soul.

I awaken with a start. The cold table is hard against my newly winged back. Gosh, that was an awful dream.

I'm carried back to my dog crate and given a bit of food. Well, at least I won't starve. I drift off into la-la-land and daydream about the day I'll get out of this place. Huh. That probably won't be for a while…

_CRASH!_

Or, maybe not.

_Iggy's POV_

"She wouldn't have. She's not stupid," Max says. Is that a quiver I hear in her voice.

Angel taps me on the thigh and whispers, "Max is about to cry. What do we do?" I shrug a bit. I've been very tense the past week since Ella's been missing. The Flock's been back at Dr. Martinez's house, and Ella's absence is hurting all of us. We've narrowed down the possibilities of what might have happened. Basically, we all think she was either kidnapped or that she ran away to the School. The dreaded School in California.

Max is defending her half-sister on the 3rd right now. "Why would she runaway to the School? I mean, we've all told her how awful of a place it is. She's not a stupid girl. She must have been kidnapped."

"When?" Fang asks. "On her way to school? She walks with her friends who, by the way, meet her right outside of this house every day. Her friends haven't mysteriously disappeared."

"Her friends also don't know anything about where she went," Gazzy pops in.

"Like they'd tell us if they knew!" Max half-yells.

"No, Max. They really didn't know," Angel says soothingly, and I can tell that Angel is stroking Max's hair. "They're as worried about her as we are."

"She wouldn't have run away. She wouldn't have. I know it," Max says. Her voice starts to shake hard, and I feel Fang move over to her, presumably to grab her in a big bear hug. I feel slightly helpless in this situation. If Fearless Leader is crying, then we might as well all be dead.

"Shh," Fang coos gently. "She wouldn't just go to the School to try and shut them down. She knows better than that. There must be a very logical explanation."

"Wings," I say, and my voice comes out rather hoarsely.

Max stops sniffling for a moment. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"She wanted wings. She wanted to be like us. Maybe that's why she went to the School." Seems logical, but I really hope she didn't try it. My feelings for Ella are all over the place. Call it what you may, hormones, crushing, but they are feelings there alright, and I don't want Ella – would do anything in my power to keep her – from getting hurt.

**Review! It makes my day! Oh, and go read my almost-finished fic All Over Again: A Hunger Games Story.**


	2. The Great Epidemic: Fax

**I'm BACK! Oh yeah. Not much to say except that:**

**I AM NOT THE AMAZING JAMES PATTERSON. **

**Just keep that in mind.**

_Iggy's POV_

Haven't you always dreamed of flying back to the pit of doom – where you were stuck and basically tortured for six years of your life – to find a girl that may be delusional but you still have a major (did I say major?) crush on? Nope. Neither have I. I mean, I may have had a few dreams about girl I have said crush on, but that's a totally different story.

Max has always says that flying helps calm her and clear her mind. She's right. And I'm so glad that we all have wings right now, I mean, without them, Max would be chewing all of our heads off right now.

Instead, she's looking confident and determined. To do what, you might ask? I guess the answer to your question would be that she's determined to kick some serious white-coat butt at the School and take her half-sister back home with us. With or without wings.

The three hours it takes us to get there are spent fairly quietly. I can just imagine Fang and Max giving each other the goo-goo eyes. Gross. And poor Angel has to listen to all of their disgusting thoughts. Ew. Gazzy does let a few stray fireworks loose over some little Podunk town, for which Max gives him the evil eye. I only know this because I swear her stare can burn holes through things. And I was right behind the Gasman when said glare went through his head. Fun.

Max finally gives us the signal (and Gazzy taps me to tell me that Max has given the signal), and we land safely around the back of some McDonald's.

Ella has been gone for almost two weeks – two weeks tomorrow, that is – and we're here, after finally convincing Max just to check the School (I mean, we could always liberate other random creatures in the mean time).

It's almost dark, and we find a park to settle in after wolfing down meals from every fast-food place we found on the way (it would look really weird if we ordered five meals each at one place, you know?). I hear Max and Fang murmuring to each other – wait, okay they're making out again. Gross. Angel is nestled in the crook of my arm, trying to keep warm, and I put one of my large wings around her. Gazzy and Nudge are keeping strangely silent. Pretty soon, though, we're all asleep, and I'm dreaming about Ella.

The next morning, Max wakes me up. "You didn't wake me up for watch," I tell her, slightly stunned.

"Me and Fang had it," she replies briskly.

"Yeah," Angel says, rubbing sleepy out of her eyes. "Your thoughts were so loud that they came into my dream and ruined the ending with all of this… This… Fax-ness."

"Fax-ness?" Max sounds a bit ticked now. Great. We're screwed. "What's Fax-ness?" Now that she's asking, I'm kind of wondering that myself. I turn and stare at where I'm guessing Angel's eyes would be.

"You know, Fax," Angel says vaguely.

"No," Max says, and I can imagine her shaking her head. "I don't know."

"It's your couple name." Shoot.

"My WHAT?" Here we go.

"You know… Fang plus Max equals Fax."

Well, at least it gets her mind off of the Ella situation for a bit. She's still raving about the "Fax-ness" when we go to get breakfast.

"Shouldn't we be concerned about finding Ella?" Fang queries, still chuckling a bit. I can get the idea that he enjoys this Fax business. What would my couple name with Ella be? Eggy? Or Illa? I like Eggy better, but I mean – wait. Did I really just say that? Forget that whole train of thought there. Wow, Iggy. Way to go.

"Okay, so," Fang begins. "Our game plan is?" He pauses, probably waiting for Max to fill in that blank. There is silence. "The plan? Do we even have one? Max? Hello?" Still silence.

"Earth to Fearless Leader," I chime in, "come in, Fearless Leader. We are in dire need of your precious wisdom and guidance."

"That totally sounded like The Big Bang Theory, dude!" Gazzy gives me a high-five. "You could be, like, the blind version of Sheldon, and I could be, like, a way awesome-er version of Leonard, and then, like, Fang could totally be a pimped out version of Howard, and then, like, Max could be a way not-nerdy Bernadette, and then Nudge could be, like, an awesome Penny, and then Ella could be, like, totally a great not-nerdy Amy."

"Who would I be?" Angel asks.

"Oh, you?" Gazzy pauses to put some thought into this. "You could be Raj."

"Okay," she says happily. Wow.

"Oh, um, plan. Right," Max says unconvincingly. "I guess we could sneak up to the side of the School, and then we could break in one of the side doors? And then we break into the experiment room to see if Ella's in there?"

"And if she's not?" I ask.

"Then we search the rest of the School, and if she's not there then she's not there, I guess."

"Okay, then," Fang says. "How are we planning on not getting caught might I ask?"

"Oh, I can get that part done," I say. I can just feel the Flock all simultaneously raising their eyebrows at me.

"And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that?"

"Oh ye of little faith," I tsk. "Gazzy and I got bored last year and figured out how to turn off most basic and complex alarm systems, like the ones in the School. We have equipment."

"Aw does this mean you're going to screw up my iPod again?" Gazzy whines.

"What is this? National Treasure?" Fang asks, confused.

"If it is," I start, "then I'm totally Riley. And I nominate Max to be Ben. And Gazzy, you can be Ben's dad. The rest of you can fight over Abigail, Ben's mom, and the evil guys."

This is really getting us nowhere.

"Hey guys?" Fang asks. "We should get going. Plan or no plan, Ella could still be in there."

He's totally right.

And that leads us to where the Flock is right now. Outside of the School, about to break in.

"All right, Iggy," Max taps me. "You and Gazzy, go… Do your thing."

I sneak in a side door and feel around the wall until Gazzy slides my hand onto a keypad. Wait. I've heard the white coats type in their pass code a lot before. I type in what I think I heard, and it takes a few tries, but I finally get it. I hear a satisfying beep, and suddenly, Gazzy says, "Whoah."

"What?" I ask, trying not to sound slightly alarmed.

"Oh, the lights just went off."

"Finally. I'm in my element when no one else is," I mutter half to myself.

The rest of the Flock is behind us in seconds as Gazzy and I edge around a corner. I hear white coats rushing past, but for some reason, no one notices us. Huh. Odd.

Gazzy taps the back of my hand twice, telling me to follow him. It's not actually that hard in the chaos. We run through a few different corridors, taking sharp turns here and there.

Then suddenly, I'm barreling through a window.

**REVIEW! It makes my day We'll hear more from Ella on the next chapter.**


	3. When Gazzy says We need to go

**Hi! I'm not James Patterson, just letting you know. We're SOOO close to the release of Nevermore! Kind of an odd name, no? Just doesn't go with the witty yet creative theme or the naming books after characters theme. Kinda freaking me out.**

_Iggy's POV_

I don't know if you've ever run straight through a window, but FYI, it hurts. Like mess. Don't try it.

"Iggy?" I recognize that tiny voice in the corner.

"Ella?"

"Iggy, are you alright?"Max calls. "Gazzy was being an idiot. He forgot to tap you that we were turning another corner. Gosh, you really busted up this window – what?" Fang must have come up behind her.

I pick my way through the broken glass toward Ella's voice, holding a finger up behind my back, telling Max and Fang to stay quiet for a second.

"Ella, start talking again. I need to know where you are."

I hear Max gasp. Huh. Must be dark in this room.

"Uh… I was being stupid, and I'm really sorry, and I know now that it wasn't the best idea, and I just want to go home." I'm in the back corner now, and I bend down towards her voice. I feel around for the lock, my lock pick already in my hand. As I go to work on the lock, I can tell she's about to cry.

"Ella, I'm going to get you out of here, okay? You're going to be fine. We're not mad at you." Yeah. Not the best at comforting. At all.

I hear a click, and I have the door open in a split second. Ella crashes into me, knocking me over.

"Oh my gosh! Ella! It's really you!" Max cries.

"Max! Stay there," I yell. "Broken glass. I've got Ella." I carefully rearrange Ella in my arms and stand, carrying her bridal style. My hand slides up her back, and I – oh, crap. "Wings," I breathe.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers in my ear. I pick my way through broken shards of glass.

"Ella!" Max says, awkwardly hugging the girl draped over my arms.

"Hi, Max," Ella replies weakly.

"We need to go," Fang says, out of breath.

"Wait, what about –"

"Gazzy got 'em," Fang interrupts me.

"We need to go," Gazzy yells. "NOW!"

When Gazzy says we need to go, we need to go. From the state that Ella's in, she won't be walking, running, or flying anytime soon. But with the wings, she got a lot lighter, so it's not as if I have to strain myself to carry her.

A giant explosion went off behind us as we ran out of the School. Everything was slow motion as smoke and debris filled the air.

"Max!" Fang yells. "Two seconds. Hey, get the heck out of here. Whatever you can do, do it. Now. Get out of here. You're free!" So he must have gotten out the other experiments.

"Up and away guys. Now," Max calls to us.

"She won't talk."

"Are you honestly surprised?"

"Iggy, I'm serious. I'm worried about her."

"There's nothing you could do, Max." After flying to the cave where we found the hawks a while back, we stopped so Ella could get her strength back. I mean, Iggy can't carry her all the way home, though I think he kind of wants to… Creepy.

Dr. Martinez – Mom, as I like to call her – is away on a business trip, and, as usual, none of us Flock members have cell phones to contact her and tell her we're okay. So, it'll be hide out in a cave and hope she knows we're okay. Oh, wait. We forgot the part where we didn't actually tell her that we left in the first place.

"I think she'll talk to Iggy," I hear Fang whisper to Max.

"Why would she not talk to us?" Max asks him quietly.

"She thinks we're mad at her." Oh, so now Angel's snooping around in Ella's mind.

"Oh yeah? Then why would she think that I'm not mad at her?" I ask Angel.

"Well, I would tell you," she says evasively, "but no."

"Please, Iggy?" Fang asks me.

I sigh and stand. "Fine." A million thoughts run through my head as I walk towards Ella. What do I say? What if she won't talk to me? What if she will talk to me? What do I do?

"Hey, Iggy." Her small voice chimes above my thoughts. Here goes nothing.

I plop down beside her. "Hey, Ella." I pause for a moment, waiting to see if she'll voluntarily give me some information so this won't be so hard. But alas… "Hey, are you alright? You seem a bit shaken."

"I think Max and Fang are mad at me." Huh. So she really does think that.

"Well, you know Max. She was scared that she'd find you dead in the back of some murderer's truck, and when Max is scared, Fang has to take over as emotional leader, which totally stresses him out, but they're not mad at you."

"You sure?"

"Positive." I wait for a second. Here comes the big question. "Did you tell them about the wings yet?"

"No…" Shoot. "Iggy, I'm scared." Gulp. "I'm afraid Max and Fang and Mom are going to hate me for what I did."

"Your mom would never hate you, and Max wouldn't either, and Fang? Well, Fang's really hard to keep angry for long," I say reassuringly. "And besides, I'll be right there the whole time."

I can tell she's smiling at me. "I'm glad. They made me practice flying almost non-stop for those two weeks."

"Why did you ever want to put yourself through something like that?" I ask her softly.

"I wanted to be like you," she replies simply.

Ella falls asleep on my shoulder, and I wrap a protective wing around her to keep the chilling wind off of her. When I touch her back to move her closer, I feel that she has brown wings with white tips. She has eagle DNA in her, now.

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	4. It's a Metaphorical Tree

**Hi! I'm back. Still not James Patterson.**

_Iggy's POV_

I feel someone tap my shoulder, and I immediately sit up, catching Ella's body and carefully setting her back on the cave floor.

"Wake her," Max says softly. "Time to go."

I shake Ella's shoulders lightly. "Mhm?" she asks.

"Time to get up."

"Okay."

"Are you going to be able to… Uh…" I don't really know how to ask this question.

"Fly?" she breathes.

"Yeah," I say.

"I think so." At that moment, some energy bars fly towards my head. Because I'm still blind, they hit me in the head. I hear Ella giggle.

"Fang!" I say, getting up and looking where I think he should be. "Can't catch when you aim at me head." I'll bet he's grinning now.

"I know," I hear him say.

We file out, each taking off in order, Max first, me last. Ella's in front of me, and as Fang takes off in front of her, I pat her shoulder, like the great comforter I am.

I hear the rest of the Flock gasp as she leaps off of the cliff. I'm right behind her, and we fly all synchronized and stuff all the way back. Max doesn't speak.

Landing back at Dr. Martinez's house is like a bomb going off. "Why did you do it?" Max asks tensely.

"I-I…" Ella begins nervously.

"Why would you do something like this to yourself? And after all of the stories we've told you of how awful it was to be there!" Great. Now Max is mad.

"It was a stupid decision. I just… Wanted to be like you," she finishes quietly.

Max storms into the house, and I know that Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge probably followed.

"Give her a couple of hours to calm down," Fang says. "She was really worried and scared that they were going to kill you."

"Oh," Ella says. "Thanks, Fang."

"No problem." And with that nugget of wisdom, he's off to go try and not bother his girlfriend for the next four to six hours.

"Iggy?" she asks.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to go sit up in that tree over there."

"Mind if I come with you?" I ask.

"I was hoping you'd ask."

In two bounds and a flap of the wings, we're at the top of the tree.

"So, would you like to tell me what happened to you?" I ask.

She sighs. "Well…"

"Oh come on! I carried you for ten miles. The least you can do is tell me what's happened to you for the past two weeks."

"Alright, fine." Ella leans up against me. "So I took a bus to California and got there around five-ish, and then I basically busted into the School – I mean it's not like they have stellar security or anything – and I told them that I was going to have them shut down because I was Max's half-sister. And that right there pretty much put them over the edge." She pauses.

"And then?" I prod, nudging her with my shoulder.

"And then they put me to sleep and reworked my DNA – don't ask me how, I have no clue – and then they woke me up and put me in some kind of box thing for a few hours. My wings grew then, and it hurt like mess! And then suddenly my contacts started bugging out, so I had to take them out, and suddenly my vision was, like, more than perfect. They did horrible tests on me for the entire two weeks, but they also taught me how to fly, which is pretty freaking epic if you ask me." She trails off into silence, and she picks her head up off of my shoulder. I'm strangely saddened by this. Her head felt nice there on my shoulder. "It was a mistake," she finishes. "But I'm not sorry I did it."

"I know what you mean." Actually, I do know what she means by that.

"I shouldn't have done it, but I'm glad I did," she elaborates. I can feel her looking at me, and I turn my gaze to where I guess her eyes must be. "Iggy?"

"Hmm?" I ask.

"You're about two inches above my eyebrows."

"Oh." Whoops. I look a bit lower. "Sorry."

"No need to be," she laughs. "You're good, but no one's perfect. I'm just trying to help you get better."

"That'll be the day," I sigh.

"What?" she asks, confused.

"When I can walk in a new place and navigate just off of sound." I turn in where my back is up against the trunk of the tree.

That's when Ella leans her back against my chest. I instinctively put my arms around her waist protectively. I hear her breath catch for a moment, and I tense, ready to take my arms off of her, when her breathing returns to normal and she continues talking.

"I still think you're amazing." I feel the heat rushing to my cheeks.

"Now you can be amazing with me," I grin.

"But, I—"

"Was brave enough to run to the School, even though you knew none of us approved of it, suffered through countless hours of pure torture, grew a set of freaking wings at the age of fourteen, learned how to fly in two weeks, and stood strong against Max's fury. That's pretty amazing right there."

I can tell she's blushing. "Thanks, Iggy."

"Ella? Iggy?" I hear Fang yell. "You two better get your butts back in here. Max's about to implode, and there's not much I can do." Oh, shoot.

"We better…" Ella starts.

"Yeah," I say. "We need to go." I jump out of the tree, and Ella jumps out right behind me. I hear a little squeal and my arms shoot out automatically. She – of course – falls right into them, almost dislocating my shoulder.

"Thanks. Totally thought I could land that," she says, embarrassed.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for." What a stupid thing to say.

"Catching girls that fall out of trees?" she laughs.

"More like catching _you _when you fall out of trees," I revise.

"So now you're implying that I fall out of trees a lot," she says. "Well, I'll have you know that this would happen to be the first tree I've ever fallen out of."

"It's a metaphorical tree."

"Oh."

"IGGY!" Fang yells again. "Stop being all smitten with Ella and get your butt in here!"

**REVIEW! Tell your friends, whatever. Not updating until I reach 8 reviews. Good luck **


	5. The Macaroni Speaks to People

**I GOT 8! Thanks, guys! Love you Right now, I'm sitting in a chair with an icepack wrapped in a scarf tied around my head. I got my wisdom teeth out. It was awful. Nice to have them gone, and nice to not to worry about them messing up what my $7,000 braces did, but it wasn't exactly fun and games. Anywho, back to the story.**

_Ella's POV_

All heck breaks loose as Iggy and I walk in the house. There's yelling and screaming and all sort of hullaballoo. Something smacks Iggy in the face. As he peels it off, I realize that it's a piece of… cheese. Mega-gross.

Max is screaming her head off at Fang, who's bravely arguing back; Gazzy is attempting to get what appears to be parts of a hamburger off of the ceiling where they seem to be stuck; Angel is in the corner, rocking back and forth and crying, and now Max is throwing things at Fang. All right, this is going to stop. Now.

"CUT IT OUT!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Iggy jumps a little beside me as I run over to Angel. "Angel, what is it? Why are you crying?" I ask, bending down next to the little girl.

"Everyone's having mad thoughts at each other, and it's really freaking me out. I don't want to the Flock to split up," she says quietly.

"The Flock's not splitting up, Ange, it's just…" I search for the right word. "Changing a bit. But that's mostly because of me, and I'm sorry that I did that to you guys."

She hugs me around the neck. "It's okay, Ella. Now you're one of us!"

"And now that she's one of us, we have to take her with us," Fang says, turning away from Max towards us.

"No we don't, Fang," Max argues. "And we're not taking her with us. That's final."

"Take me where?" I ask. No one pays attention.

"Well we can't just leave her here all by herself!" Fang's voice is rising.

"She's fourteen! She can take care of herself until Mom gets back home," Max persists.

"Exactly. She's fourteen. We were fourteen just a few months ago, and we flew off on our own. We're going to a safe place, Max, and I'm not leaving her here all by herself. What if she gets kidnapped by the white-coats? It's not like she can just tell us if she gets kidnapped. We wouldn't know until we got home, and we don't even know when that might be."

Max sighs. I guess she realized that she just lost that battle.

"Where are you going?" I ask again.

"Meeting in New Jersey," Fang says. "We're flying there."

"What's this meeting about?" Iggy asks. I give him a funny look. I guess he senses it, because he says, "What? They didn't tell me about it either."

"It's about some company trying to buy us," Max chuckles ruefully. "We're only going because Mom told us we had to."

"Wait, you're not going to be… Bought, are you?" I ask, slightly worried.

Max laughs dryly. "Ye of little faith," she chides me. "Of course we're not going to get bought! Mom's just making us go to politely refuse."

"Oh." What a dumb response. Oh.

"All right, well, I'm going to go make dinner," Iggy says, breaking the awkward silence.

Gazzy's eyes get really big, and his voice gets eerily soft as he says, "Don't touch the macaroni in the fridge."

"Erm… Why?" Iggy asks, confused.

"It spoke to me," Gazzy says, using the same voice.

"It – it did what, now?" Now I can see that Iggy's even more confused.

"It spoke to me."

"Uhuh."

"Just don't touch it."

"All right. Wasn't planning on it." Iggy gives Gazzy one last weird look, and then he walks back into the kitchen.

I walk upstairs with Max, still thinking about Iggy. I find men that cook very attractive.

"What did you just say?" Max asks me, turning. Oh, shoot. I just said that out loud. "You really do have a crush on Iggy," she muses.

"Please don't tell him," I beg.

"Nah, I won't," she giggles. "I think he likes you, too, if that helps."

My heart skips a beat. Or two. Or four. Or eighteen. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do," she says honestly. My smile is a mile wild. "Wow, you got it bad, little sis," Max laughs.

"You can't talk," I retort.

"Oh yeah?" she asks, raising a brow. "And why is that?"

"You've got it worse for Fang." And with that, I turn and run for my room. I don't have to turn around to know that Max is chasing me, and she slams me onto my bed, tickling my sides until I'm crying with laughter. She rolls off of me and onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"You guys would be a cute couple," she muses.

"Thanks," I say, wiping tears from my eyes.

"Ella? Max?" Iggy walks into my room. "Dinner's ready."

"Is that… Pizza I smell?" I ask, sniffing the air.

Iggy blushes. "One of my few cooking blunders."

"Oh, gosh, Iggy," Max gasps. "What did you do?"

"I… Uh… Tried to revive that macaroni," he replies weakly, blushing a deeper scarlet.

"What happened? No, actually, I don't want to know," Max says.

"That's okay, Iggy," I say, getting up and hugging him around the neck. "I'm pretty bad at cooking anything."

His hands linger on my waist. "Nah, I've had some of the cookies you've made in your mom's absence. They're pretty darn good." And at that, he turns abruptly and leaves the room.

"Oh, my bad," Max grins. "Iggy's got it worse for you."

**Hey guys! Go read my other fanfiction and review with what you think the title of the sequel should be.**

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	6. Ordering Pizza is a Challenge

**This story is one of the most fun ones I've ever written! As I'm writing this, the USA is in the lead of the XXX Olympiad medal count race. We're beating China, people! Oh well. That won't last long.**

**DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Maximum Ride.**

_Iggy's POV_

Of course, the one time I make dinner at her house, and I screw it up so badly that we end up having to order pizza. Epic. Fail.

Ordering pizza is kind of a fail in itself. Gazzy has to order it, because he's the only one who can pull off a convincing adult voice, and believe me, when you're ordering twenty pizzas, they don't take you seriously if you sound like you're a teenager.

I pay the guy at the door and take the large stack of pizzas out of his hands, even though I know he's giving me a weird look right now.

"Dinner's up people!" I call, hearing Max and Ella run down the stairs, still giggling. Wait, Max? Giggling? Ella must be really doing some good for her.

"Is it just me who thinks this is a bit odd?" Fang whispers in my ear.

"What? The giggling? Or the smiling? Or the general happiness part? We are talking about Max, right?" I grin.

He punches me playfully in the shoulder, probably giving me one of what Max call his signature half-grins. "All of it," he says, walking back to the table.

"Well in that case," I say, putting the pizza down. "No you're not the only one who thinks that's really weird."

Ella's appetite seems to have grown a lot since she got her wings. From what I can tell, she eats an entire pizza and a half all by herself. Of course, I eat four and a half, but I'm a year older and a good foot taller.

_Ella's POV_

I get ready for bed fast, knowing someone could walk in at any moment.

Sure enough, someone does. Right as I take off my shirt. I quickly put my shirt over my chest, but then I see who it is.

"Hey, Iggy," I say, grabbing my other shirt.

He turns red. "Did I interrupt you changing?" he asks sheepishly, turning away.

"Iggy, you're blind," I say, stifling a giggle.

"Still—"

"It's okay, Iggy," I say, putting my shirt over my head. "There. I'm done. Now, what's up?" I sit down on my bed and pat beside me, knowing he'll hear and come sit down.

He does. Gosh, he's so amazing. "It's about your mom," he says, looking me right in the eyes.

"You're getting a lot better at the eye thing," I tell him. "And what about my mom?"

"We don't know where she is," he says gravely.

I have to raise my eyebrow on this one. "She's at her meeting in San Francisco," I say.

"Yeah, she got there, but now she's gone, and the CSM thinks she's been kidnapped by a terrorist group," he says slowly.

"Then where is she?" I ask quietly.

"No one knows." He puts a hand on my back comfortingly, but I'm in shock. "We'll find her," he says.

"But what if we don't?" I ask him. "What if we're too late?"

"We won't be. I promise."

I scoot closer to him, willing myself not to cry.

"It's going to be fine," he whispers in my ear. And that's all it takes. I throw my arms around his neck, and I bury my face in his chest, crying softly.

_Iggy's POV  
_

I've never been around crying girls much. I mean between Nudge, Angel, and Max, someone else has always been there. Max always comforts Angel when she cries; Fang is in charge of Max – everyone else is slightly afraid when Max cries – and when Nudge cries, she usually likes to be alone, though I have given out some Nudge hugs when she cries.

This is like a new challenge to me, though. I wrap my arms around Ella as she cries into my shirt. With one hand rubbing her back, right in between the wings, I pick her up with the other hand, setting her onto my lap. Max would kill me, but hey, Max is not here right now.

By the time Ella's done crying, I'm lying against her pillows with her on top of me and my arms still wrapped around her. My shirt is soaked, but Ella's okay now, so it's cool.

She sniffs and rolls off of me to my left. I'm feel slightly disappointed until she curls up next to me, putting her hand on my chest.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep," she says.

"I will," I tell her. A grin creeps onto my face.

She drifts off pretty quickly, but I really don't feel like moving right now. I listen to her soft snoring for another few minutes. I'll leave in a second…

"Ella! Time to get – Iggy?!" Max yells from the door. Shoot. I stayed in Ella's room all night. "What the heck are you doing in Ella's bed?" Double shoot. Actually, crap. Crap, crap, crap.

"I told her about your mom, and then she couldn't fall asleep, so I just stayed until she did, and then I accidentally fell asleep before I got up again," I rush, sitting up quickly.

"You told her what?" Max asks menacingly. Crap.

"Dr. Martinez is Ella's mother, too," I say defiantly.

"You weren't going to tell me?!" Ella shrieks.

"Of course not, Ella," Max says more gently. "I didn't want you to be worried. The CSM is doing everything they can—"

"What is everything they can do isn't enough?" Ella says.

"Then we'll find her ourselves," I say. "We'll find her. No matter what. I promise you that much, Ella."

"Well, it's still time for breakfast. Our meeting has been cancelled, but there's a CSM one in Baltimore that we'll be going to. So get a move on you two," Max says. "And Iggy?"

"Hmm?" I ask.

"Stay out of my sister's room."

"Okay," I sigh.

**Review, please! You'll get a mental cookie from me **


	7. Hufflepuffs and Their Findingness

**I'm back! So far, I'm staying true to my schedule. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out on my profile! I also have a poll up where you can vote on a new story for me to do.**

_Iggy's POV_

It's really sad when you can pack everything you own into one industrial-sized backpack. It's even sadder when you still have room in said backpack for the girl you have a crush on's stuff. Max says she can't carry a pack yet, so I volunteered to keep her stuff in mine. It took all I had not to be a total perve and go through her underwear. Yeah. I did accidentally touch her bra. And that's all I have to say about that.

Up in the air, I notice that I always have a sense of where Ella is. She starts out lagging behind the rest of the Flock a little bit, but right as I'm about to drop back to make sure she's okay, she catches up with us.

"You okay?" I ask softly, moving below her and automatically. I feel a subtle change in her wing strokes. "Hey, I'll move with you," I say quickly, speeding up a little to match her.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm just kind of worried that Max's fury was only slightly delayed by the Mom situation," she says, sighing a bit. I can tell by the quick change in her flight pattern – she momentarily forgets to flap and almost crashes into me – that she just realized that Max could've heard her.

"She didn't hear you. She's with Fang. She can't hear anything, but, like, the sound of his _breathing_," I chuckle.

"That's so creepily and disgustingly romantic," Ella giggles.

"That's the only way Max and Fang will ever have it," I nod. I feel the Flock suddenly shift directions.

"Left about twenty degrees, down at a gradual ten," Ella says quickly. I nod again and change direction. "You're really good at that," she muses.

"What? Flying?" I ask.

"No. Following directions."

I have to raise my brow at that. I know she's looking at my confused face, because she laughs at me. "You know exactly when the Flock makes a flight adjustment, and then all you need is for someone to tell you the approximate changes," she clarifies.

Oh, gosh, I find it very attractive when women talk all sciency.

"You find what attractive about women?" Ella asks.

Fudge. I just said that last comment out loud.

"Ella finds men that cook very attractive!" Max calls from the front. I feel a blush creep up my face. "You two must be Hufflepuffs together. All this finding-ness. And lay off my sister, Iggy. She's still a year and a half younger than you." I hear Fang let out one of his few chuckles as I scoff.

"A year and two months, Max," Ella tells her half-sister.

"Same difference," Max says. I can tell that she's turned around to watch me and Ella.

"Not exactly," Ella starts. "You see a year and a half is actually eighteen months, and a year and two months is only fourteen months –"

"And now she's showing off," Max mutters to Fang.

"Am not!" Ella calls. "And as I was saying, if it was in fact, the same difference, we could subtract one from the other and get zero, but you wouldn't, seeing as—"

"Shut up, Ella!" Max shouts playfully over the wind.

"So, Iggy," Ella says a few minutes later. "Do you find mathematical women attractive, too?"

"I find anything having to do with you very attractive," I say simply. Oh, shoot. Can't believe that just came out of my mouth. I can feel not only my blush, but hers, too.

"And I'm finding that I have the sudden urge to drop-kick your butt into the middle of next Tuesday, Ig, if you don't LAY OFF OF MY SISTER!" I don't have to be able to see to know that Max is shooting invisible daggers into my head.

"I think you're being slightly unfair, Max," Ella says, to my utter surprise. "You have no older sister to get onto you about constantly flirting with Fang, but you get onto Iggy all the time for flirting with me."

Max is silent after that, and I feel Fang come up underneath me. "Nice one," he breathes, knowing only I will hear him.

"I try," I reply quietly, a grin crossing my face.

The rest of the way there, Max won't talk to me, and Gazzy and Nudge keep whispering, so I just talk to Ella. Not that I mind, of course.

We land in Baltimore and check into the fancy hotel room, provided of course by Nino Pierpont. Gotta love that guy. Max is very insistent upon sleeping arrangements. Between the pull-out sofa and the two queen-sized beds, she figured that she and Ella would sleep with Angel in one bed with Gazzy and Nudge in the other. That leaves me and Fang on the sofa.

Lying in bed that night, I can't get Ella off of my mind. As I punch my pillow yet again, trying unsuccessfully yet again to hear Ella's breathing over the annoying air conditioning system, Fang whispers, "Can't settle your mind?"

"Not really," I sigh softly.

"Thinking about her?"

"Ella?" I pause for a moment. "Yeah," I relent finally.

"I know how you feel," Fang says in the darkness.

"How can you? There's no one stalking your every move with Max," I say indignantly.

"No, but she thinks there are," comes the slightly shocking answer. "She's just trying to protect her sister."

"From me?" I almost yell-whisper.

"Go to sleep, Ig. You'll figure it out in the morning," Fang groans.

"Okay. Night, Fang," I whisper, knowing he hasn't fallen asleep yet, even though he doesn't answer.

**Worst. Book ending. Ever. NOOOOOO! Read Nevermore – yes the entire thing – in about four hours yesterday. Almost punched something when it ended. Urgh! I wanted more Eggy! Obviously…**

**Did anyone get my AVPM reference? **

**Anywho, REVIEW please!**


	8. The Pros and Cons of Angel

**I got a question about my last Author's Note. No. This has not ended. It was the Nevermore ending that I was talking about!**

**Still on the Nevermore high, and I'm trying to ride it out until I start school. Which is next Monday. Not looking forward to it. 'First day of high school is awesome!' they say. 'High school was the best four years of my life!' they say. 'Baloney' I say. Wish me luck people…**

_Ella's POV_

I wake up with a little feathery body next to me and Max whispering for me to get up in my ear. I sit up silently, looking around. The person next to me is – alas, not Iggy, wait, forget I said that – Angel.

Angel sits up next to me and gives me a grin, hugging me. "Iggy's like a foot taller than me and another sixty pounds heavier, you know," she whispers in my ear. Oh, right. Mind reader on the loose.

I roll my eyes, giggling a little at Angel, who's getting out of the bed now. She's wearing what appears to be an old t-shirt of one of the boys.

"Iggy, why'd you give Angel that ratty old Furman t-shirt you had?" Max asks indignantly. I hear a snicker coming from behind the partial wall that separates the beds from the sofa. "And no, I don't think it's very appropriate to give a seven-year-old a shirt that has FU on it, even if it does represent a university."

Iggy sighs and walks over to the bed I'm in. He sits down on the edge in front of me, and then he lies back, landing with his head in my lap. I giggle as his face turns red. "You're fine, Iggy," I say softly, stroking his mussed hair. A few stray butterflies decide to do somersaults in my tummy as his hands come up to hold my waist.

I quickly do a three-sixty of the room, making sure no one is looking at us. Max and Fang – well you can only see their feet on the couch, but I'm pretty sure they're not paying attention to us. Nudge and Gazzy and Angel aren't in sight; they probably already hightailed it to the continental breakfast buffet downstairs.

Before anything else can happen, though, Max is standing menacingly over the bed, slapping Iggy's hands – and face – off of me. "Paws off," she says, giving Iggy a death glare. He groans and rolls off of me.

"Come on, lovebirds," Fang calls. "Breakfast time. You two can make out later."At least I'm not the only one turning about fourteen shades of red.

I don't know what it is about fancy hotels and elevators, but this one is about four feet wide and three feet long, and it's going down at about the speed of a snail. Max and Fang are squished together in one half of the tiny elevator, and by squished, what I actually mean is that Fang has both of his arms wrapped tightly around Max, and she's got her face in his chest.

Iggy and I are cramped in the other side, and it's kind of a little bit awkward. I carefully shift my weight, making sure not to press any buttons on the panel behind me while I'm at it, and I end up facing away from Iggy. Now we can fit comfortably if he puts his hands up on my waist. Like he just did.

And then the elevator door opens. I hear Iggy sigh at the exact same time I do, and then we get off.

I think Max and Fang are discussing some sort of game plan all throughout breakfast, but honestly, I'm not paying much attention to them. Nudge is talking a mile a minute, as usual, and Angel is doing a pretty darn good job pretending she's paying attention. Gazzy's just stuffing his face with food. Big surprise.

Iggy has been quiet most of breakfast, and I'm about to ask him if he's alright, when he suddenly, in one fluid movement mind you, scoots my chair closer to him and carefully places one hand on my thigh. Thank goodness I shaved.

So that just about shot my focus for breakfast.

_Iggy's POV_

Max is going to kill me. That's about the only thought going through my head when we get back on the elevator. I keep a steady hand on Ella's tummy the entire way up, but in my mind, I know Max is going to shoot me for having a major crush on her half-sister.

Max makes us leave the room while the girls changes. I protest that I'm blind, so therefore, I can't see anyone naked, but then she just pushes me out the door, muttering something about never leaving me and Ella alone again.

"She didn't take the blindness bait, did she?" Fang says as soon as the door slams shut.

"Of course she didn't," I say glumly.

"Honestly, at the rate you're going, you'll see – or, excuse me, feel – Ella naked in a matter of weeks," Fang says. I can't tell if he's joking or if he's actually being serious here.

I make a face at him, trying to cover up the fact that I'm turning about eight more shades of red. "Dude! I would never do that to her. She – she deserves so much more than that. She deserves so much more than me. And besides, Max would stab me in the middle of the night long before any of that happened. Come on, dude, she's fourteen," I say.

"Iggy, if you honestly think that she deserves the best, then you're the one who's supposed to be with her. But, I still gotta say, you're making more progress in a year with Ella than I made in fourteen with Max," he says.

"You guys are freaking me out," Gazzy says from the floor. "Why would Iggy ever want to feel Ella naked?"

It takes all I have not to bust out laughing at that comment. I can tell that Fang's holding back a chuckle, too.

"You'll figure it out soon enough, buddy," Fang says, ruffling Gazzy hair.

Thank goodness that Max opens the door at that moment. "All right it's your turn," she tells us.

_Ella's POV_

"On it, Max," Angel says. I give Max a questioning glance, and she reddens.

"Max wants to know what the guys are thinking about," Angel replies, like it's no big deal.

"So what are they thinking about?" I ask.

"Ella!" Max cries indignantly.

"You asked first," I say, holding my hands up.

"Fang is thinking about not telling Gazzy about why Iggy would want to feel Ella naked – wait, what? And then Gazzy is thinking about cheese puffs, and Iggy's thinking about – oh, surprise – Ella," Angel says, summing up everyone's thoughts.

"Why would Fang be thinking about not telling Gazzy why Iggy would want to feel Ella naked?" Max asks reproachfully, trying not to start yelling.

"Hold on," Angel says, concentrating. "Oh because he and Iggy were having a guy heart-to-heart about you two. Fang cracked a joke about Iggy's relationship progress."

"Don't kill him," I say quickly. "What do you mean by Iggy's thinking about me?" I ask Angel.

"He's thinking about how Max is going to kill him because –"

And then Fang reopens the door. He gives me a weird look before saying, "Hey, Max, you wanna grab some stuff before the meeting? It's in half an hour."

**Review, please! I might update early if I get more than five reviews on this chapter.**


	9. Meeting Gone Wrong

**I'm back! School starts in less than a week T rated theme at the tail end of Iggy's POV.**

_Iggy's POV_

Landing in front of the building where our building, I can tell everyone is nervous. Great, it's probably gigantic. Good thing I can't see it. I grab Ella's hand and start walking towards the building. "Come on, guys!" I call over my shoulder. "We've got us a CSM meeting to attend."

The first person to speak in that conference room is Max. "Got any food? We're starved."

And right there, I realize that this conference room is also gigantic. Ella's grip tightens slightly, and I give her a little reassuring squeeze. She leads me to the table and sits down in the chair beside me.

That's when the food came in. I hold back, trying not to gross out Ella.

About five minutes later, the meeting begins. "We're here today to discuss possible rescue missions for Dr. Valencia Martinez," a man's voice says. Ella's breath catches momentarily in her throat. "We have discovered her location." I think Ella's about to cut off my circulation. She's about to cry. "Dr. Martinez is being held captive in the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan."

Ella bolts for the door, and I immediately jump up to follow her. "Iggy," Max says warningly.

"Let him go," Fang tells her.

That's all I need. I run for the hallway, listening carefully for Ella. Finally, as I'm standing in front of a doorway, I hear soft crying. I open the door quietly.

"Iggy?" Ella asks, sniffing.

In two steps, I'm beside her, kneeling down. I look her straight in the eyes, knowing exactly where they will be. "Ella, it's okay," I say softly. "They found your mom, and we're going to go to Afghanistan to find her."

"I'm just so scared that the terrorists are going to kill her before we get to her," Ella says in barely a whisper.

I pick her up and set her on my lap like I did two nights ago, and I settle against a wall. I don't think I ever would've guessed that stroking a crying girl's hair could make me happy.

"Ella," I whisper, "I swear I'll find your mom. I swear that I will find her, or I'll die trying. I'd give my life up to make it happen."

"Iggy?" she says.

"Yeah?" I reply, turning my head down to her undoubtedly tear-streaked face. I put a hand on her cheek and wipe away a tear with my thumb.

"I know now's not the greatest time, but…" She trails off midsentence.

"But...?" I ask, raising a brow slightly.

"But I've kinda had this crush on you since, like, last year," she finishes in a rush. I let that simmer for a little bit. I can tell she's getting nervous.

"I know," I grin.

"But… You don't return my feelings," she says glumly.

"And that's the part where you're totally wrong," I say.

"What?"she asks, slightly stunned.

"Why do you think I'm in here?" I ask her, chuckling a little bit.

"You – you like me?" she marvels.

"I've had a crush on you since the first time I met you," I tell her truthfully.

"So you wouldn't mind if I kissed you?" she asks shyly.

"Well actually, I've been trying to kiss you for the past three days," I say thoughtfully.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh, my gosh, Iggy, I – I just –"

And that's when suddenly, her lips are on mine and she's kissing me.

I would have totally paid more attention to that part if she hadn't also been straddling my waist and lying on my chest. My hands, like, automatically went to her waist, and then I was pulling her – and myself – up off of the floor. I turn her around and put her up against the wall, still kissing her.

And for a moment, everything was perfect. And then that moment ended.

Max came in. "Ella, I – IGGY?!"

I reluctantly pull away from the first kiss I've ever had and set Ella back down on the ground.

Let's just say that Max drug me out of what was apparently the girls' restroom by the ear.

"Nice job," Fang breathes in my ear. The one that's not throbbing. "I saw the ending. How'd the beginning go?"

"Best minute of my life," I whisper back.

"You'll probably want to hide that boner of yours from Max. She'll really kill you if she gets a glance of that," he chuckles.

Shoot.

_Ella's POV_

The last thing I wanted to do was let go of Iggy. But then Max walked in. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, but she sometimes has the most inopportune entrances of all time.

All the way back to the hotel, she keeps saying things like, "I just don't know if Mom would approve of you being with one of the Flock," and "I just don't know if you're making the right decision," and my favorite, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

I don't think that Max understands. At all.

**Anyone catch my TLM Broadway reference? Hint – go back up to where Iggy's talking about Ella's mom, and then think of Sebastian.**

**Anyone catch my OTHER reference from Tangled? No hints on that one ;) **

**If you can review and tell me what song the first reference is out of and then tell me who says the second reference, I'll make a character named after you! And yes, you can name one or the other, doesn't have to be both.**


	10. The Million Dollar Question

**Oh, my gosh! So many updates! T rated theme in the first half of Ella's POV. You can skip it if you want.**

_Ella's POV_

I don't know if I should be slightly freaked out or – yeah, slightly more freaked out when I realize that Iggy's taking a freezing cold shower. And Fang keeps giving me weird looks.

Finally, Max takes Nudge and Gazzy and Angel out to the indoor pool, promising she'll be back in a second.

As soon as the door closes behind them, Fang looks straight at me. "You gave him a serious boner," he says.

I blush severely at that, and Fang just grins. "What happened in there? And no, I won't tell Max," he says.

"Um, well, he told me he'd either find my mom or die trying, and then I said that I had a crush on him, and then he said that he had a crush on me, and then I kissed him, and then… It kind of got a little out of hand, and then Max walked in," I say in a rush.

"Yeah, I saw the last bit," he says, pulling out the digital camera that he gave Angel a while back. He flips through it for a second and then shows me the screen.

It's a picture of me up against the wall of the girls' restroom with my legs curled around Iggy's waist, and he's holding me up with one hand and bracing himself against the wall with the other. And we're kissing.

"It's a pretty hot picture, I must say," Fang grins, putting the camera away.

_Iggy's POV_

Getting out of a cold shower after the best moment of your life is not fun. Actually the cold shower isn't much fun. And neither is the best moment of your life ending.

I put on my clothes quickly, and as I open the door of the bathroom, I hear Fang say, "It's a pretty hot picture, I must say."

I hear the breathing of the other person and identify her immediately; Ella. They haven't noticed me yet, so I just quietly slip behind the couch so that they can't see me from the beds where they are.

"Did it feel good?" Fang asks her.

"What? Kissing Iggy?" She pauses. "Yeah. Yeah, it did."

"And Ig was obviously having a good time," Fang chuckles. I know Ella's grinning at him, as Fang goes on. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm all for you guys being together, regardless of what Max says."

What a relief! At least one of the Flock is on our side. "Speaking of Max, I'm going to go find her," Fang says, getting up.

The door closes behind him, and I hear Ella sigh. I walk over to the bed where she's sitting.

"Hey, Iggy," Ella says, turning to face me as I sit down.

"Hey. Look, I'm so sorry about Max coming in on us earlier," I say.

Her hand cups my cheek as she says, "Well, Max should just get over herself. It's not like we don't know about her little make out sessions with Fang."

I laugh at that one. "Fang seems to be on our side, though," I muse.

"Oh so now you're eavesdropping, I see," she laughs.

I blush. "Not exactly. I heard the last bit of your conversation with Fang, but you know, I talk to him, too."

"Right. I forgot that you guys have little heart-to-hearts too," she says. "All right, what's taking them so long? I'm going to go find them. Want to come with me?"

"Sure," I say, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

_Ella's POV_

As soon as Iggy opens the door, I realize that this is a bad idea. Max will kill me if we walk up on her and Fang kissing in some little corner. Though it would be some sweet payback. And the camera Fang had is in my back pocket.

"Where should we check first?" Iggy asks.

I put a hand over his mouth. "Shhh," I whisper. "They could be anywhere. Doing anything." I think Iggy catches my drift because he grins maniacally.

"Payback," he murmurs.

We decide to check the elevator first, and, not finding them there, we decide to head down to the pool to get clues from the other three.

"Hey, guys!" I call, waving to them from across the pool.

Angel pops out of the water, her blonde curls now brown with wetness. "Hey, Ella! Hi, Iggy! Max came down with us, and Fang came in a few minutes ago, but we went underwater and didn't see where they went," she says, reading my mind.

"Cool, thanks," I say.

"Hang on," Iggy says quietly, grabbing my wrist suddenly. He nods over to the bathroom door. "I hear something from in there."

"Alright, but be quiet. It's the ladies' room," I say, creeping over there with him on my heels. I hear a small noise and feel something on my butt. "What are you – oh, the camera. Right," I say. Iggy had just pulled the camera out of my back pocket and turned it on.

I pray that the door has been oiled recently as I slowly push it open. It has been apparently, because it didn't creak.

Sure enough, Max and Fang are on the floor – I mean, gross – and they're totally making out. Fang is at this point shirtless, and Max's shirt is laying on the floor a few feet away, meaning she's now in a tank top. Nice, Max. At that moment, they suddenly roll over, so now Max is on top, and I freeze, making sure they didn't notice us.

Iggy quietly hands me the camera, and I get a good picture before handing it back to him.

"Ahem," I say loudly.

Max shoots to a standing position, whirling around in the process. Her face turns about twelve shades of red when she sees me. She tries to speak, but her ragged breath doesn't exactly allow her. Or maybe she just can't speak. Huh. I rendered Maximum Ride speechless with one word.

"See?" I say. "I'm not dragging Fang out of this bathroom by the ear and yelling at him the whole way." At that moment, Fang comes up behind Max, still shirtless. He gives me a tiny grin.

"And you two obviously got a little further than Ella and I did," Iggy says, putting on hand on my waist and gesturing toward the shirts still on the floor. How did he know they had them off? Oh, he could feel the colors in the picture I took. I sure do hope that he hid that camera.

Needless to say, Max doesn't talk to me for the rest of the afternoon, though Fang does chuckle when I show him the picture.

_Iggy's POV_

Laying on the pull-out couch that night, I can't stop thinking about today. It has to be up there with the best days of my life. I mean, I got my first kiss from a girl I have a giant crush on, I got revenge on Max, and Fang told me that he was on my side for once. Pretty great day.

In the middle of the night, just as I'm about to drift off, I hear someone tiptoeing to Fang's side of the bed.

"Fang," I hear Max whisper softly.

"Mhmm?" Fang replies groggily.

"Scoot over," Max says.

"Why?" Fang asks.

"Why do you think, stupid?"

"Oh, okay, but Iggy's on the other side of the bed."

"Whatever."

I feel Fang shift towards me just enough to where Max can slide in beside him.

"Are you okay?" Fang murmurs.

"Yeah, I guess. Just a lot to think about, you know? And I couldn't get to sleep because…" The last part of her reply is too soft for me to hear.

"I didn't catch that last part," Fang says playfully. Must have something to do with him.

"I couldn't get to sleep because I couldn't hear you breathing," she snaps softly.

A few minutes pass silently. "Max?"

"Yeah?" she asks.

"Would you be okay if Ella and Iggy were together?" The million dollar question.

It takes Max a full minute to answer. "Yeah."

"Then why are you so bent on keeping them apart?" Fang asks.

"It just scares me. The thought that the Flock might be changing… I just don't want them to make any stupid mistakes," Max says.

"Wait, wait, wait," Fang begins. "You're telling me that you don't want the Flock to change. You do know that we kind of already changed it. And what kind of stupid mistakes do you expect them to make?"

"I'm afraid Iggy's going to slip up and, I don't know… Like get Ella pregnant or something…" What?! Are you _kidding_ me?! Why would I ever—

"Iggy? Come on, Max. Give the boy some credit. He likes blowing things up, but I don't think those kind of things ever cross his mind. Heck, he can't even see Ella in the first place!" Fang laughs.

"Then why were you thinking about not telling Gazzy why Iggy would want to feel Ella naked?" Max blurts.

Fang is silent for a moment, and I'm stuck laying on my side of the bed thinking, _How the heck does she know about that?_

"You got Angel to spy on us?" he asks softly.

"Look if that's what you're thinking about all the time, I think I need Angel to spy on you," Max snaps.

"Max, Iggy freaked out when I mentioned it," Fang says. "He said that he would never do that to her. And I realize that Gazzy probably shouldn't have heard that conversation, but we kind of forgot he was sitting out there with us."

"You mentioned what, now?" I hear Ella say. Shoot. She woke up, and I was too consumed in Max and Fang's conversation to hear her walking over to the couch.

"Umm…" Fang sounds reluctant to share what we talked about. "Well, basically I was congratulating Iggy on his progress with you, and then I joked that in a few weeks you'd let him feel you naked, and then he freaked out, and he said that he'd never do that to you. He said you deserved so much more than that, and he said that you deserved someone better than him."

"He… He said that?" Ella asks in a quiet voice. "About me?"

"Yeah. He did," Fang says. "And then I told him that if he thought you deserved the best then he should be with you, because I know that he'd treat you right."

"He's so sweet," Ella says. "Alright, I'm going to go back to sleep now. Night you two," Ella says. She walks over to my side of the bed and bends down to me. "Thank you, Iggy," she whispers. "And if I deserve the best, then I deserve you, because you are the best." I feel her lips on my forehead, and then she stands back up.

As she starts to walk away, I reach out and grab her hand. "I'll never be the man you deserve," I whisper.

"You're already more of a man than I'll ever deserve," she whispers back.

"Stay with me," I whisper softly. I make room for her in the already crowded bed, and then I feel her get in beside me.

"Always," she breathes. I wrap my arms around her waist and bury my nose in her hair.

Best. Night. Ever.

**Haha! Review please!**


	11. The Men in Black

**AN: I'm back after hiatus! Check out my other story and be on the lookout for my mini-story coming up!**

Chapter 11

_Iggy's POV_

I wake up smelling the most glorious smell of all time: Ella's hair.

Wait – why am I smelling Ella's hair?

Oh, right. I forgot that she slept with me last night.

I mean, not that THAT. She didn't like sleeeeeep with me. She just slept in the same bed as I did.

Never mind.

The second thought that comes to my mind is how perfectly our bodies fit together. If I ran a hand down the seam where my body ends and hers begins, there would be no spaces. Her head fits perfectly underneath my chin; my arms wrap just right around her petite body; her wings fit to my chest flawlessly.

My acute senses pick up the fact that we aren't alone in this bed. I remember from last night that Max and Fang are on the other side, curled up much like Ella and I am. Max is snoring softly and I can almost feel the grin radiating off of Fang's face.

An alarm clock suddenly blares next to my face. Ella leaps to turn it off, taking her warmth with her.

"Morning, Ig," she says sleepily, falling back into my arms.

"Good morning, beautiful," I smile back.

"Shut up, lovebirds," Gazzy yells from across the room.

I feel Max shoot up from the other side of the bed. "IT'S SEVEN."

"Yes, Max. It's seven in the morning," Fang says sensibly, swinging his legs down of the bed.

"The plane leaves at eight," she explains. The CSM arranged a flight for us to Afghanistan, and you know how much the Flock likes enclosed spaces.

"Well in that case," I groan, "I suppose we should get ready for it, shouldn't we?"

Reluctantly, I sit up, gently bringing Ella's body up with me. "Noooo," she says in a tiny voice, snuggling deeper into my chest.

"Come on, Ella," I grin, picking her up bridal style.

We pack all of our stuff – which isn't much – in about five minutes.

Ella and I hold hands all the way to the airport. When we get inside, she immediately steps a little bit closer to me. "Hey, it's okay," I murmur. "I'm right here. We're only getting on a plane."

It turns out that the CSM also arranged for us to avoid security (thank God), and we're escorted through what seems like miles and miles of security lanes before we finally reach our plane.

Alas, it's still a small plane, but it's not going to take us overnight to get to Afghanistan, so Max allows Ella to sit next to me on the comfortable sofa.

I slip my arm around her as we take off, and in no time, I can hear her soft breathing, signaling that she's asleep.

Fang plops down next to me. "You really have it bad for her, don't you?" he asks casually.

"I don't know," I mumble, grinning at where her sleeping figure should be. "You tell me."

"You've got it bad for her, Ig," Fang chuckles, punching me in the arm lightly.

"How can you tell?" I ask.

"The way you look at her; the way you talk to her; the way you talk about her; the way you are around her. She's a lucky girl, Ig."

"No, I'm the lucky one," I say in barely a whisper, knowing Fang will hear me.

"Why is that?" Fang asks.

"Because I'm a freak. And she's – well, look at her. She's perfect."

Fang gets up then and gives me a pat on the back. "Do you want her to be yours?"

"More than anything."

I'm jolted awake as we land – wait, what? I fell asleep? Oh, whatever.

"Ella," I whisper. "Ella, wake up. We have to get off to refuel."

She nods groggily and stands, swaying a bit. I steady her with one arm and then slip to other around her small frame as we walk off of the plane together.

_Ella's POV_

Iggy practically carries me off of the plane, and we're ushered into a large, closed off room. Good. I can finally stretch my wings.

I do, tentatively. First one wing, and then the other.

"They're beautiful," I hear a hushed voice say behind me.

"I like them, too, Ig," I reply, not even having to turn around to recognize his voice.

Just then, a man in all black comes into the room. "We need to see Ella Martinez," he drones.

"What for?" Max asks accusingly before I can reply.

"The, uh, CMS wants to, uh, see her," he falters.

Max crosses her arms across her chest, and the rest of the Flock move to encircle me, Iggy in front of me. "Uhuh, see that might have been believable, but first off, it's CSM, not CMS, and second of all, we've met all the important people in the CSM, and you're not one of them."

"Yes, well," the man says, coming towards me, "I don't really care."

And with that all hell breaks loose.

Men in all black come from every side, and while the Flock is fighting valiantly, I know they are going to lose; they're just too many of them.

One man comes right at me, and I start to tense up, but then Iggy's in front of me, and he's beating this guy up. In two punches, the man is out like a light. Ig turns to me. "I'm not going to let them hurt you, okay?"

"Okay," I say in a small voice.

_Iggy's POV_

They will not hurt my Ella.

They're not going to hurt the one good thing in my life.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you, okay?" I say to her, looking right where her eyes should be.

"Okay," she says quietly.

I spin back around and put one hand behind me on her waist protectively, backing her into the corner.

"Ig! Help!" I hear Max call from across the room.

"Ella, don't move," I say. "I'll be right back."

In two bounds, I'm across the room and on top of the man in black fighting Max. We quickly dispatch of him working as a team; Max kicking his torso and me squeezing his neck.

We're about to start on the next one when I hear: "IGGY!"

My heart drops into the pit of my stomach. All movement in the room ceases as I pinpoint exactly where Ella is.

In a flash I'm to the spot where she was only a moment before, but she's gone. "Ella?! Ella!" I cry, dashing the circumference of the room.

"Iggy," Fang says quietly. I'm now acutely aware that the men in black are all gone and it's just the Flock. Well, the Flock minus Ella.

I drop to my knees. "I should've stayed with her," I say, shaking my head. "I shouldn't have let go."

"Iggy, we'll find her," Fang says in gruff voice. I can hear Max's soft crying mingled with Nudge and Angel's sniffles.

"I told her I wouldn't let them hurt her, and now they've got her." I'm shocked. I can't breathe. I can't speak. I can't move. She's gone.

**I'll be updating more quickly next time!**

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	12. Mutant X

**AN: I forgot how much fun it is to write for this story!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not James Patterson. Iggy is – sadly – not mine, and neither are Ella, Angel, Fang, Nudge, Max, Gazzy, or anyone else in this story. The only thing that's mine is the idea, and by now someone probably already has it… Haha whatever.**

Chapter 12

_3__rd__ Person POV_

Dr. Martinez watches helplessly as her daughter is drug to her cell across the hall.

She can't speak; a dog collar with a strong electrical wire hooked up to it ensures that.

She can't move; the chains on all four limbs prevent that.

All she can do is watch, and Dr. Martinez does just that with all the fury she can possibly muster.

But she knows deep down inside that if Ella is here, the others must be. They'll come rescue the both of them.

But if the Flock is here in Afghanistan, then how could the enemies have gotten Ella?

The ugly security guard named Ralph scratches his rear as he shuts and locks the door to her daughter's cell. He turns on his heel and waddles off back down the corridor: back off to wherever he takes his naps.

"Mom?" Ella whispers as soon as Ralph is out of sight. Dr. Martinez nods and then motions to the collar on her neck, signaling that she cannot speak for fear of getting shocked.

"Mom you should know something," Ella begins. Dr. Martinez can already see the tears forming in her daughter's eyes. "I – I ran off the School a month ago. I don't really know why I did it, but I did."

It takes all Valencia Martinez has not to scream as she watches her daughter unfold her beautiful wings. "Do they know?" Dr. Martinez breathes, risking getting shocked. She doesn't, and relief washes over her.

"No."

"Hide them."

_Iggy's POV_

"Where did they take her?"

"Ig, we've been over this a thousand times," Max says, sounding very annoyed. Much to my chagrin, we're on plane ride number two without Ella, and I can't help but pace around the plane. "The CSM thinks that these are the same people that took my mom. If they're right – and they're usually right – then it's best to just keep going to Afghanistan and then once we find Mom, it'll lead us to Ella."

She sees that this isn't helping me. "Iggy, I'm worried about her, too. It's not just you, but we're going to find her, okay?" I nod helplessly. "Right now the best thing you can do to help Ella is to get some sleep so that when we do find her, you can kick some serious butt to get her out of there."

I nod, not looking at her. Glumly, I sit back down on the couch. Even this stupid couch reminds me of Ella. She sat here with me just a few hours ago and fell asleep on my chest.

"How are you holding out?" Fang asks quietly, sitting on my other side.

"I shouldn't have let her out of my grip," I say to the floor, "but Max needed my help, and I couldn't leave her stranded."

"I would've done the same thing, Ig," he says.

I pause, a newfound fear coming over me in waves. "What if we can't find her?"

Fang sighs and turns to me. "Iggy, you're so determined to find her that there is no way she could be gone forever."

"And what if when we do, she's… dead?" I stammer.

Fang doesn't say anything for a moment. "I can't say for sure, Ig, but I don't think she will be."

It takes us another painful two hours to reach our destination in Afghanistan.

The little CSM chick scurries in front of us, leading the Flock to the hotel we'll be staying at.

"What's she look like?" I ask Fang.

"Short, curvy, blonde, fair skin, big boobs," he rattles off under his breath. "Nothing like Ella."

I grin at her name. "Ella's prettier," I murmur, half to myself, half still to Fang.

Fang chuckles at me. "Of course she is, Ig," he says, punching me lightly in the shoulder. I bet he has one of his lopsided grins on right now.

That night in the hotel, I can't sleep. Ella's not here and I can't hear her breathing. She can't come snuggle up next to my chest. Dang it. I can't sleep.

I unfurl my wings out halfway and curl them around my body so I can lie on my back and stare at the ceiling.

I hope she's okay.

The CSM wouldn't let us leave on our rescue mission until tomorrow, but I'm too fidgety to wait that long. What if they hurt Ella before we get there? What am I going to do then? I can't lose her. I just can't.

_Ella's POV_

I miss sleeping next to Iggy. Actually, I miss it so much that I can't sleep otherwise.

It's really dark in this cell, and I can't see anything. Consequently, that "anything" can't see me either.

I quickly search the ceiling of my cell and the hallway outside of it for any telltale red lights. Finding none, I drop to the floor to begin feeling around for anything that might help me escape.

Fifteen minutes later, I find it – or rather I feel it. Without being able to see, I can tell that there is an air duct above me: cold air is rushing down the back of my shirt from this vent.

Quietly, I begin the treacherous climb to the air vent. _This is probably not going to work, but at least it's worth a shot. I'll do anything to get out of here, _I say to myself.

I shimmy up the wall and remove the vent carefully, and then I just kind of do this little hop and wiggle maneuver to get into the air duct.

Taking every precaution possible, I silently slither along to air ways, trying not to make a sound.

I don't exactly know where I'm going, but maybe if I just find some sort of – oh yes there's light up ahead.

I stop over what looks like a room with many computers. In the middle – that's where I am – there's a master computer that is bigger and higher tech than anything I've ever seen before.

Right as I'm about to remove to vent so that I can lower myself into the room, two middle eastern looking men walk right underneath where I'm crouched in the vent system. They speak in English, but their accents are heavy, and I have to strain myself to understand them.

"I still can't believe that Project Death Valley would do this to us."

"One would think that after the amount of trouble they've gotten themselves into in the past decade they would just give up."

"We have to find Mutant X, though, or the boss will have our heads."

"And why is that? Who is Mutant X?" This is a new guy that just walked in.

The other two fill him in. "Mutant X is the human-avian hybrid they illegally created. The girl was already fourteen. It's against every logical rule of science and humanity."

"We had an agreement with the US that they couldn't create anymore mutants or we'd bomb them for real this time."

"But they illegally created Mutant X, voiding our contract of peace with them. This means war."

"We must kill Mutant X before she can kill us."

"And, consequently, we must now also destroy the United States of America."

"This is what happens when you mess with Al Qaeda."

I stifle a gasp as "Mutant X" pops up on a screen behind their heads: I am Mutant X.

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